Angela Rayner has been pleading with Labour supporters to keep her “soulmate” partner Sam Tarry as an MP just months after he was blocked from running in his east London constituency at the next election.
Ilford South Labour members voted to deselect the former Shadow Local Transport Minister last October, just months after defying Sir Keir Starmer’s order not to join rail workers on the picket lines.
Activists in Ilford South, a constituency which has returned a Labour MP to the Commons in every election since 1992, instead chose a council leader to stand in the safe seat.
Tarry, 40, is a close political ally to Labour’s deputy leader and the pair have been romantically linked since her separation from Unison official Mark Rayner in 2020.
Sam Tarry (centre) was sacked as Shadow Transport Minister after defying Sir Keir Starmer’s order not to join rail workers on the picket lines
PA
Speaking at a fundraising dinner in Ilford South on Wednesday, Rayner said: “If the Labour Party doesn’t stand for fairness then what do we stand for?
“He is one of the most kind-hearted, amazing individuals and he’s also my soulmate.”
Rayner, who also served as Shadow Education Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, added Tarry’s constituents were “incredibly lucky to have him as your MP”.
She continued: “I get to see a lot of Sam, and I get to see a lot of behind the scenes, and I see how much he cares … That’s what you want from an MP, an MP that really cares about his area, and he really does.
“So I hope that he continues because it would be an absolute, absolute tragedy for the Labour Party to lose someone like Sam as an MP.”
Tarry, who is a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group, claimed his deselection vote was a “manufactured political circus”.
He also confirmed his intention to formally challenge the result.
However, the Labour Party is confident in both the result and the integrity of the process.
Angela Rayner spoke in support of Sam Tarry at a fundraising dinner in Ilford South on Wednesday
PATarry was sacked as Starmer’s Shadow Transport Minister in July after joining workers outside Euston Station.
He doubled down on his support for industrial action by striking with junior doctors, teachers and postmen.
Tarry has not directly criticised Starmer over the matter.
However, the former Corbyn campaign aide claimed trade union barons were “fuming” about his dismissal and warned they were on a “direct collision court” with the Labour Party.
Redbridge Borough Council leader Jas Athwal will stand as Labour’s candidate for Ilford South at the next general election.
